My father is obsessed with his bowel movements even when he is regular. What do I do when he demands a laxative?

My mother does this, too. She can have movements every day, but forget about them and demand a laxative. This is a most difficult situation for me, since she can get verbally violent when I say that she doesn't need one. I'd like to read what other people did who were in a similar circumstance. I think my mother isn't able to distinguish feeling of being full from eating and needing to go to the bathroom. I also believe that taking a laxative makes the bathroom less work for her. I think she likes the effect of the laxative. It's really rather gross, as I'm sure people here know.

Give him a tiny piece of chocolate - milk, dark, mock - and tell him it's Senokot. You may want to go to the pharmacy and buy a box of Senokot to make the show look real. Hide the real ones for when he really needs one. Inform his doctor of his obsession.